Journey's end.

I started this blog in 2009 to record my journey back to the world of traditional wet shaving. I published
Fido's Shaving Brush Blog soon afterwards having assembled a large collection of shaving brushes and  completed a lot of research. Then New Forest Brushes was established in 2010.

I hope that readers who stumble across my jottings here will have found something of interest. It has been a journey of exploration. I have tried a variety of products and variations in my shaving technique. And I have recorded my findings about many aspects of the world of wet shaving. I think that after 486 posts it's time to draw this blog to a close and focus my attention on my brush business.

Anyone interested can now follow me on Twitter as New Forest Brushes by following the link below.

                                  @New Forest Brushes

My thanks to my regular followers and to those who have posted comments. All much appreciated.

Low price creams

Each of the creams I have recently bought are very easy to lather and are all just as good as much more expensive creams. If I have an issue it's about the scents. None match the enjoyment of using a cream the scent of which you have determined as something you specifically enjoy. Having said that, in the years I used canned goo, I never gave a thought to the scent! I'll use up all the creams and I'll be interested to discover which ones I decide to replace.

Boots shaving cream

£1.05 for 125g.

I'll be using it soon.

Palmolive cream

£2.05. And the spending goes on .......

The Santa Cruz Hot Dog

Nothing to do with shaving, it just caught my eye. And I'm hungry.

Ingram shaving cream

I have now used this for several days with a variety of brushes. Each time I have bowl lathered. What can I say? It creates great lather quickly and easily. A pleasant and not too strong menthol scent, enabled a nice smooth shave leaving the skin soft and moist. At £1.75 in Superdrug UK stores, it's great value and will now take a place in my regular rotation. I'm fast becoming a bit miserly with my spending on creams and soaps. I have just ordered some Boots Cool Cologne shaving cream for £1.05 which I will pick up from my local Boots store next week.

How to remove a shaving brush knot

It works!

Just click the link below:

How to remove a knot

25 minutes and out it came!

Ingram shaving cream

This is a cream I have yet to try. Do any of my readers know where I will find this in a UK High Street store?

Body Shop Macca Root

                         

The day I used up the last of this, I bought three more - for the price of two - from The Body Shop. Enough said.

The Old Apothecary

If ever you visit Lyndhurst in the New Forest, this shop is well worth a visit. Among its range of bath and beauty products is a collection of shaving products. They don't include New Forest shaving brushes - they can only be obtained direct from the manufacturer!

Here's their website:

The Old Apothecary 

Village Barber

Since joining Twitter I have been discovering just how many shaving related websites can be found on the internet. This is well worth a look, particularly the videos.

Villagebarber.com

Kent V16 vintage shaving brush

I bought this brush which was unused several months ago. On my 70th birthday yesterday, I finally decided to use the brush. I knew someday that someone wouldn't be able to resist it so thought it may as well be me.

So how did it perform? It's an amazing brush. Far too big and heavy for regular use. The density of the knot ensured that it was relatively easy to control both the creation of lather and it's application. I painted it on, but I managed a bit of a scrub for the first pass before smoothing over. As expected, the tips are silky smooth.
I managed my usual three passes. Squeezing out what was left was a messy business - so much lather!

Using the brush was quite a novelty and I'm glad I did. But this isn't a practical brush. It's really a display piece. And that's what it will be. Perhaps I'll leave it in my cabinet and make a point of taking it out for my 75th - if I'm still here, then each 5 years thereafter. So when it's passed on it won't have had much use and might appeal to a collector!

Some before and after pics:

The unused brush

The knot unused

The knot after use

The used brush

Or perhaps I'll make it my regular birthday brush?

Avoid brush damage .....

This is good advice:

Avoid brush damage and protect your investment.

Styptic pencil

However careful you are, occasionally you will nick or cut yourself while shaving. I did today, so I was really pleased I had one of these little sticks in my stash:

I got mine in my local Superdrug store.